SAS Group returned to profit in the second quarter after passenger traffic rose and the carrier cut costs.

“There are positive prospects for continued traffic growth during the second half of 2011, particularly on U.S. routes, but also on domestic and intra-Scandinavian routes,” Chief Executive Officer Rickard Gustafson said in the statement.

SAS, part-owned by the governments of Sweden, Norway and Denmark, had been unprofitable in all but two of the previous 14 quarters as it struggled with a drop in travel and competition from discount carriers such as Norwegian Air Shuttle ASA. SAS in May forecast a full-year 2011 pretax profit, and the carrier reaffirmed that prediction today.